Playing the Race Card in North Carolina

The North Carolina Republican Party -- forged by the hand of Dixiecrat segregationists like Jesse ("White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories?") Helms -- has never been cautious about playing the race card. When North Carolina Democrats nominated Harvey Gantt, an exceptionally-qualified moderate African-American candidate against Helms in a 1990 U.S. Senate race, the North Carolina Republican machine countered with a series of ads that emphasized Gantt's race and played on fears and prejudices.

Of course, in the politically-correct world of special privileges demanded by contemporary conservatives, no one was supposed to use the word "racist" to describe the pro-Helms ads. And, so, much of the commercial broadcast, cable and print media has to this day allowed the Helms and his partisan allies off the hook for running a campaign that was conceived and implemented with the aggressively racist intent of scaring white voters away from voting for an African-American candidate who they agreed with on the issues and who they knew to be more capable of representing them in the Senate.

Because the media tends to be afraid of calling racists out, Helms and the North Carolina Republicans had no trouble running a blatantly racist campaign. And, when Helms was reelected over Gantt, a powerful lesson was learned.

The unfortunate truth is that, when a political organization plays the race card, gets away with it because journalists have been pressured to avoid using accurate language and then wins on election day, that organization can be expected to play the race card again.

And so the North Carolina Republican Party has.

Under the guise of opposing the a pair of Democratic gubernatorial candidates who have endorsed Barack Obama for the party's presidential nomination, the state party is airing a commercial designed to do exactly what the Helms campaign's anti-Gantt ad did back in 1990: scare white voters away from an African-American candidate they might otherwise support.

If the material in the current ad was accurate in its portrayal of Obama, the North Carolina Republicans might have a defense. But it's not.

As images of Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright flash on the television screen, the candidate's former pastor is quoted out of context with the purpose of making him look like a dangerous radical – and Obama like either a dupe or a fellow-traveler on the anti-American fringe.

The transcript of the current commercial goes like this:

Narrator: For twenty years, Barack Obama sat in his pew listening to his pastor.

Jeremiah Wright: And then wants us to sing God Bless America. No, no, no. Not God Bless America, God (censored) America.

Narrator: Now Bev Perdue and Richard Moore endorse Barack Obama. They should know better. He's just too extreme for North Carolina.

Chairman Linda Daves: The North Carolina Republican Party sponsored this ad opposing Bev Perdue and Richard Moore for North Carolina Governor.

Despite the efforts of the party chair to confuse the intent of the ad, this is another case where no serious observer will be confused by what the North Carolina Republican Party is doing. They're playing the race card.

The question now is whether they will, again, get away with doing so. Obama and his supporters ought not play on the "politically-correct" – or, to be more precise, deliberately incorrect – commercial media to clarify things.

But they might want to point Americans to some genuine journalism. On Friday night, my friend Bill Moyers interviewed Wright at length for the PBS program "Bill Moyers Journal." During the course of the interview, Moyers played an extended clip of the sermon that was sampled in the North Carolina Republican Party commercial. It becomes clear that Wright was speaking in a savvy, nuanced manner about complex questions of regarding U.S. foreign and domestic policy and, far from displaying extreme sentiments, the former Marine was discussing concerns that are common among Americans of every racial, ethnic, income and even ideological grouping.

At one point in the interview, Moyers asks Wright whether there has been a failure of communication between the pastor and his critics.

"When something is taken like a sound bite for a political purpose and put constantly over and over again, looped in the face of the public, that's not a failure to communicate," answers Wright. "Those who are doing that are communicating exactly what they wanna do, which is to paint me as some sort of fanatic or as the learned journalist from the New York Times called me, a ‘wackadoodle'... I think they wanted to communicate that I am unpatriotic, that I am un-American, that I am filled with hate speech, that I have a cult at Trinity United Church of Christ."

This is precisely what the North Carolina Republican Party is doing. And their purpose is clear. They want, in Wright's wise words, "To put an element of fear and hatred and to stir up the anxiety of Americans who still don't know the African-American tradition..."

The hero of the North Carolina GOP, Jesse Helms, once said, "Democracy used to be a good thing, but now it has gotten into the wrong hands."

In fact, democracy is still a good thing. It only looks bad when hand of racism touches it. And the way to challenge racism is to call the racists out. Barack Obama and his supporters must understand that what the North Carolina Republican Party is doing is just the beginning of a fear-mongering campaign that will only be halted if it is identified for what it is: a crude playing of the race-card for political purposes.

Comments (76)

1. Ahhh yes, the GOP we know and love. Fear-mongering, race-baiting. Yessiree, just like the good old days.

   Posted by leftofcenter at 04/27/2008 @ 4:11pm

2. Amen, Mr. Nichols

   Posted by poet128 at 04/27/2008 @ 4:11pm

3. Note to Nation Tech Support - your "contact tech support" is non-functional.

   Blog preview doesn't do anything except put the input box on a blank page (Firefox 2.0.0.9), you really need to make the input box stretch all the way across the column; put the "Type here" above, and the "Preview & Submit" below .. and for God's sake either put some HTML widgets underneath, or explain what ones work and what ones don't cause while the old blog engine sucked a little, at least it functioned. This one bites big-time.

   Posted by leftofcenter at 04/27/2008 @ 4:15pm

4. It's a struggle, but African-American candidates who connect with white and Latino working-class concerns are being elected, in small numbers, in some Southern districts. The underlying problem here is that Obama's support remains largely urban. He generates remarkable enthusiasm among blacks, yuppies, and college students -- but older, small-town, and working-class voters remain skeptical. "Wright" and "bittergate" aggravate the problem. The real question is whether Obama can put together a platform that will offset the inevitable race-baiting to come. Nothing in the primary races so far suggests that he will.

   Posted by R Lancaster at 04/27/2008 @ 5:21pm

5. It's sad really. That people fall for this kind of crap. But then you look at folks like RioBravo and we on here think they are small in number but there are more people like him out there than we think. People who will believe anything they hear without question and then go out and repeat the lie. Just makes me sad...

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 5:54pm

6. Mr. Nichols that is a bunch of crap. You know it was a Billary operative that exposed Rev. Wright. You're beloved libs put this one out. Put the blame where it belongs.

   Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 6:25pm

7. Wow. I finally watched the interview with Rev. Wright. I don't know how Republicans can indite this man. He sounds like an intelligent and up standing man. If you haven't I recommend you watch the interview because it paints a very different picture of him than the Republicans are trying to paint. He sounds like an intelligent man with a message that touches many people Black, Hispanic, White and everyone else. I guess they will do anything to paint a good man as the devil in order to win.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 6:30pm

8. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

   Your point? Your precious Republicans are repeating it over and over again and taking it even further beating the dead horse to try to bring it back to life.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 6:31pm

9. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

   It matters who started it, it also matters who keeps using it. Who keeps repeating the corrupt message and who takes it even farther. GOP has now taken this clip and is now inflating it and using it more and more to fear monger. To scare middle America. The liberal who started it is disgusting and the Republicans who keep it going are disgusting also.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 6:38pm

10. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    C3 your missing the obvious. My point is no one would have known about Rev. Wright and his speech had it not been for a liberal operative. In a way you can't blame the NC republicans for exploiting a weakness. And from were I sit, it's a bad one. Why didn't Obama think before he tossed his hat in the ring?

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 6:39pm

11. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    I feel kinda bad for Obama.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 6:46pm

12. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    I agree with you but I blame anyone who propagates lies. This is why I don't like politicians because they will lie and defame anyone in order to win.

    "Why didn't Obama think before he tossed his hat in the ring?"

    I think he did think. I don't think he saw this as a weakness because he knew the man. He did what everyone else SHOULD have done and though about who the person is. If you watch the interview with Rev. Wright you notice he is nothing of what he has been painted to be. He doesn't hate anyone. He isn't like Pat Robertson. If you listen to the clip in full he doesn't only name African-Americans he names Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and everyone (including Irish Catholics and Germans) who have been held down because of their race in this country. His message is universal to everyone who has had a bigger weight put on their shoulders because of their race. Why is that a bad thing? If you listen to the whole clip he says "God damn America AS long as she think herself better than everyone else!" How is that wrong? Would God bless a country who thinks that it's better than everyone else? Would God bless a nation of people who have such a history of racism and according to many to this day still survives fully in this country? So many of his comments echo exactly what so many on this website have said but because they didn't put God Damn America before it what they say is ok. He said that 9/11 was caused by American Foreign policy, which is completely accurate. If we had better foreign policy and better foresight maybe Osama would have never risen to power. If we had better foreign policy and national defense maybe we would have seen the attack coming and defended against it. What about anything he said when you listen to his sermon in context is not correct?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 6:49pm

13. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    I appreciate McCain in making the official statement that he didn't think this should be a blemish on Obama. I don't know if he was politically distancing himself from it to make himself look good but I still think it was a stand up move by him. I think despite my differences in opinion on policy he isn't so bad a person.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 6:51pm

14. I watched the Bill Moyers interview. That is what journalism should be. That is who a pastor should be. Why is every major talking head neon white? why don't we see more Russ Mitchell caliber people?

    Posted by julien38 at 04/27/2008 @ 7:12pm

15. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    First off, Rev. Wright was not accurate about 9/11. That tragedy happend because of a fanatic. Whether OBL agreed with our foreign policy or not is irrelevent. He wasn't a leader of a country and the only thing he wanted was power but didn't have the guts or the manpower to take down the Saudi Royal family.

    Secondly, God has blessed this country. It's not a perfect country but it is a unique one.

    Thirdly, our foreign policy is not the best, but when you have agencys like the UN, who want to dictate how we should run our affairs, both domestically and interantionally, I say it's good thing for us to put our foot down.

    And lastly, our national defense is trying to get itself back together after being heavily gutted by the Clinton administration. It's a wonder any of the agencys survived after that.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 7:16pm

16. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    I contend still that foreign policy affects these things. We helped to fund him against the Russians in order to find the communists. If we wouldn't have done that he would have gained the power he did. If we had better policy in the middle east instead of shoot first ask questions later maybe we wouldn't have so many enemies.

    Every country is unique. No two are are the same. I don't think God has blessed us because we are unique. We are a super power but most countries have had their time in the lime-light. The true test of a countries blessing is how long they last. We have barely been around for the blink of an eye compared to most places.

    About the UN. Maybe instead of always scoffing at the UN we should try listening occasionally. Putting your foot down when you are wrong isn't always the best call. For instance listening to the UN might have been smart in keeping us out of Iraq.

    I agree Clinton took TOO much from national defense. I think Bush is putting TOO much back into it. There has to be a balanced achieved. You can't gut our educational system and give all the money to build bombs. The amount spent on a jet is enough to build another school. If you want to invest oodles and oodles of money into the defense of this nation invest in our children.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 7:27pm

17. hate being educated, particulary by the types who write here.

    Posted by Euler at 04/27/2008

    Aren't you trying to "educate" us. Kind of like Frank when he comes on here and says he has to "educate" us?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 7:28pm

18. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    I disagree with your first statement. We funded the muhajhadeen because no one else would help them when the Russians invaded. You have to remember every member on the Security Council and they told no one of what they were planning.

    As for the UN is concern, we might as well be by ourselves. God only knows how long the Oil-for-food program scam had been going on.

    Again, we aren't taking money from our educational system, it's the DEA. Our school systems consistently fail our children because of the policies implemented by them. If you really want significant change with education in this country, dump the national teacher's union and I can guarantee you'll see huge improvements.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 7:43pm

19. Note change: The Russians are members of the UN Security Council and they didn't tell anyone what they were planning.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 7:45pm

20. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    I agree with you on some fundamental things. I don't think getting rid of the teachers unions are going to solve our problems though. I think we need to stop teaching for tests which is what No Child Left Behind does. We need to start putting more money into schools equally so inner-city schools don't get the shaft. We need to pay teachers more so people will be more willing to spend 6 years in college to get a masters so they can teach. Why would you want to be a teacher if you know you have to spend 6 years in school to get a masters in order to get a job where you will barely be able to pay off your debt?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 7:57pm

21. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    I DO see the pitfalls of the UN. But I think with the world becoming more and more globalized through economy first we are going to have to start playing a little more like we like the rest of the world because they are going to start to be able to hit us harder and harder where it counts.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 7:58pm

22. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    One of the main reasons why inner-city schools suffer is because they lack a serious tax base due to lack of sufficient homeowners to assess taxes from. To exasterbate(sp) the problem, many urban areas (public school districts) are overloaded with apartment complexes, were tenents (with or without children) don't pay property taxes. This puts a heavy burden on the school system itself because it needs additional funds to teach the new arrivals. Without a sizable property tax base, the system is forced to cut back on vital services. Top that off with children of illegal immigrants and children with special needs and you have a mess on your hands.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 8:23pm

23. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    That'll be a long time coming because most of the technology is still coming from us. Despite what the media spins, we're ahead of the curve.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 8:28pm

24. That'll be a long time coming because most of the technology is still coming from us.

    ~~~~ACook

    i wouldn't blink too long.

    here, read this:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/magazine/27world-t.html

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 8:59pm

25. Sunday, April 27, 2008 9:03:55 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 8:59pm

26. oh, and funding schools with local taxes is cruel for too many.

    9:04 pm

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 9:00pm

27. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008

    Sorry, FZ, but anything the NYT writes is suspect to me.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 9:01pm

28. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    True enough but China is getting more money and the rest of the world is growing smarter while the average American seems to be getting dumber considering they have had to lower standard for admittance into university.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 9:03pm

29. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    True but I don't think the problem will be solved by removing money from schools.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 9:03pm

30. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008

    How is it too cruel? It's their school system.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 9:04pm

31. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    I do agree with most of your statement and the fault lies squarely in the lap of the parents. When they're not involved, the children suffer.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 9:12pm

32. Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    Absolutely 100% agree. Parents think off school as too much of a place to get rid of their kids for a few hours when that's not what it is. Most parents don't realize they have to be involved in their children's education more than the teachers are. I don't mean to take any blame from neglectful parents either believe me.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 9:17pm

33. NYT writes is suspect to me.

    Posted by ACook

    the nyt writes nothing. it is paper.

    the author of this article does a good job in defining geopolitical trends in the 21st century.

    highly suggested. (and i'm not a big nyt fan, either.)

    <i>The post-cold-war "peace dividend" was never converted into a global liberal order under American leadership. So now, rather than bestriding the globe, we are competing -- and losing -- in a geopolitical marketplace alongside the world's other superpowers: the European Union and China. This is geopolitics in the 21st century: the new Big Three. Not Russia, an increasingly depopulated expanse run by Gazprom.gov; not an incoherent Islam embroiled in internal wars; and not India, lagging decades behind China in both development and strategic appetite. The Big Three make the rules -- their own rules -- without any one of them dominating. <B>And the others are left to choose their suitors in this post-American world.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 9:20pm

34. It's their school system.

    Posted by ACook

    keeps the rich, richer.

    keeps the poor, poorer.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 9:20pm

35. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008

    I agree, but the schools have no choice. In Gwinnett County alone, they're paying a heavy price because they have a glut of apartment complexes that draw a lot of illegals to their school system. They had to vote on a new referendum for more money to build 5 new schools. Rumor has it the GCC is going to suspend giving residential building permits for awhile. Or until they get a handle on the illegal situation.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 9:28pm

36. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008

    FZ, I read some of that post and for the most part it's all speculation. 5 years from now, it'll be something else that affects the global economy.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 9:33pm

37. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008

    Actually, it's the local governments that keep their residents poor. Detroit is a prime example. The city government has been poorly ran and totally corrupt. It's a wonder any large companies still remain in the metro area.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 9:37pm

38. Posted by HAPPY2 at 04/27/2008

    It would be racist against white people. What's your point? If you listened to the actual sermon which I doubt you have because your comment shows that you didn't see the whole point of the statement he was making you wouldn't even be able to make that statement. He never said anything racist. Watch the interview with him on Bill Moyer and watch the WHOLE sermon.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 9:47pm

39. Actually, it's the local governments that keep their residents poor.

    Posted by ACook

    now, that's just foolish.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 9:48pm

40. Posted by HAPPY2 at 04/27/2008

    In the sermon they keep repeating he never says anything about white people. He says a lot about the US government. For condoning the oppression of people and if you will remember historically it has been done to certain white people too, ie. the Irish, Germans etc.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 9:49pm

41. Posted by HAPPY2

    happy, you really don't believe all this nonsense, ¿do you?

    i mean, frankly, it's a bunch of b.s.

    Sunday, April 27, 2008 10:10:58 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 10:07pm

42. now, that's just foolish.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008

    No that's not. Detroit used to be a very prosperous city, that is until Coleman Young became mayor. He was a bully and a crook.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 10:10pm

43. Coleman Young became mayor. He was a bully and a crook.

    Posted by ACook

    true. however, the reasons people are poor in many places in the u.s. usually go far beyond anything under local control.

    Sunday, April 27, 2008 10:16:22 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 10:12pm

44. Gotta get up in the morning. See y'all.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008 @ 10:13pm

45. IN FRIKKIN' ITALICS!!!!!!!!!!:

    Detroit faced a white flight to the suburbs that began in the 1950's and accelerated after the 1967 Detroit race riots and the subsequent racial preference policies of the Coleman mayoral administration. It was common for Young's opponents to blame him for these developments, but it is speculated that other factors such as white resistance to court ordered desegregation, deteriorating housing stock as well as aging industrial plants and a declining automotive industry leading to a loss of economic opportunities inside the city contributed to the phenomenon.

    Sunday, April 27, 2008 10:18:49 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 10:14pm

46. meanwhile, back on the moon:

    The U.S. Embassy confirmed the area was hit by indirect fire, the military's term for rocket or mortar attacks, but said it had no immediate word on casualties.'

    There were also clashes between forces loyal to the al-Maliki government and Mahdi Army militiamen in parts of Baghdad.

    On Saturday, mortar fire killed 8 and wounded 42 in the area around the Green Zone.

    Turkey launched another major operation in eastern Anatolia near Iraq.

    Sunday, April 27, 2008 10:22:19 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 10:18pm

47. Posted by HAPPY2 at 04/27/2008

    True I would agree with you about it not necessarily being about race but you have to see that now it has become about race. That's what it is being used as. Not to show is anti-America stuff it's been created into another boogie man trying to scare white people into thinking all black are like Farrakhan. I don't know if you have heard the sermon I recommend you take a listen to the full think and listen to his interview. The sermon in and of itself CAN'T be applied to whites. The sermon is about the oppressive action the US government has taken against minorities in this country in the past. The enslavement and genocide of native Americans, the imprisonment of the Japanese in internment camps, the enslavement of African Americans. He is speaking for ALL injustices against minorities including the Irish who were pelted with rocks when they got off the boats. I don't know about you but that stuff is such a stain on American history and it is still burned into a lot of peoples minds. We like to think "Oh that was so long ago that stuff doesn't apply at all today." It really wasn't, a lot of the people getting sprayed with water hoses in the 60's are still around so there is still an element of resentment to a government that let dogs loose and sprayed down the people who just wanted a bit of equality.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/27/2008 @ 10:59pm

48. Posted by MarkCanyon at 04/27/2008 | ignore this person

    SO TOO, MARKCANYON!

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/27/2008 @ 11:14pm

49. interesting how NC repugnants chose to attack obama and not clinton. but then ms. clinton IS "the family's" and murdoch's choice to succeed bush, and obama is "the thing that was not supposed to happen"...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/27/2008 @ 11:19pm

50. Why are there people on here talking like they never read this article let alone the interview the guy is talking about?

    Respect to Acook. Don't agree with him, and I would ask him to show me a case of any of these school policies actually being applied and actually working without funding from a rightwing org or Walmart or whatever.

    We might disagree on what 'working' means of course. My metric would be base level of literacy going up across all socioeconomic groups.

    Posted by johnny canuck at 04/27/2008 @ 11:28pm

51. Also because whites fled lawless black communities in the sixties and seventies.

    Posted by MarkCanyon

    well, everybody knows ol' darkie didn't realize what a great deal he was getting......

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 @ 11:39pm

52. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 | ignore this person

    yup - just ask ol' uncle ruckus...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/28/2008 @ 12:16am

53. C'mon JOHN NICHOLS stop calling conservatives "Politically Correct" Thats your laurel. Can't you think up something original to call them?

    Reminds me of the Dems question "whose going to pay for it" when opposing tax cuts, as if thats the same as starting a social program and asking the same thing, which Repubs finally, mercifully began to ask in the 80's. No originality, those libs.

    Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 04/28/2008 @ 08:49am

54. Mr Nichols, I know your penchant for tilting at windmills, but ...are you NAIVE as well?

    You think the NC GOP isn't giving you a taste of what the US GOP will do in the Summer and Fall?

    Gird your loins and take off your rose-colored glasses...and figure out how to deal with it, not whine about it!

    Posted by Mask at 04/28/2008 @ 08:56am

55. Yes check this www.floridakkk.com if you think that racism doesn't exist and their candidate of choice is Ron Paul...who would have thought?

    Posted by Micheline W at 04/28/2008 @ 10:14am

56. I feel kinda bad for Obama.

    Posted by ACook at 04/27/2008

    i feel kinda bad for the world.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/28/2008 @ 10:14am

57. Can't get any whiter than McCain. Oh yes you can: Murdoch, Clear Channel and their wee tots, Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter, Boortz, OReilly, Savage, and finally! Mr Snow himself, straight from Bush Co to CNN.

    Posted by winyahn at 04/28/2008 @ 11:39am

58. Posted by johnny canuck at 04/27/2008

    I'm not a guy, I'm a woman. Any educational policies implemented by the Department of Education have not been very effective.

    Posted by ACook at 04/28/2008 @ 11:59am

59. Posted by MarkCanyon at 04/27/2008 | ignore this person

    complete nonsense Naziboy.

    go ahead blame the unions. Japan and Germany have even more powerful, read pro worker, unions, and they have had no trouble building the cars that folks like all over the world.

    the white flight from city neighborhoods? they did not flee black neighborhoods, they did not live in black neighborhoods. it's all garbage, Naziboy.

    Posted by emile duBois at 04/28/2008 @ 12:10pm

60. Posted by frosty zoom at 04/27/2008 | ignore this person

    it's quite remarkable, but the most intellectually challenged posters here, you know who you are, are the one constantly railing against teachers and the public educational system.

    for intellectual challenged read dumb as a box of rocks.

    Posted by emile duBois at 04/28/2008 @ 12:32pm

61. this is agreat time in america baracks campain is bring out issues as a nation we need to face. i can see how the fear card of the right and hillary is influencing my 80 year old mother. we need to reach out to our seniors and help them understand whats at stake for our future

    Posted by brian a. at 04/28/2008 @ 1:25pm

62. this is agreat time in america baracks campain is bring out issues as a nation we need to face. i can see how the fear card of the right and hillary is influencing my 80 year old mother. we need to reach out to our seniors and help them understand whats at stake for our future

    Posted by brian a. at 04/28/2008 @ 1:29pm

63. <i>Posted by emile duBois at 04/28/2008</i>

    What's so remarkable about it?

    Makes perfect sense to me...

    Posted by drhammer at 04/28/2008 @ 1:43pm

64. (This new format sucks.)

    Posted by drhammer at 04/28/2008 @ 1:44pm

65. True, countries such as Germany and Japan have strong teachers' unions. The real difference between those countries and the US is that their cultures are superior to ours in terms of education issues. American cultures in general are hostile to education, and the cultures of the underclasses (black, white, Hispanic) are the most hostile of all. This is all connected to lack of family support and indeed to lack of family (especially fathers) in many cases. The single most important predictor of a child's academic performance is not how much money a school receives, not how many teachers there have MAs, not how strong or weak the union is--it's the education level of the parents. If your parents are dropouts, they're not bloody likely going to emphasize education in their children's lives. The mass media are also contributing significantly to the coarseness, stupidity, violence, and learned-helplessness of American cultures, and again most intensely to the extremely dysfunctional cultures of the underclasses.

    Posted by feinfein at 04/28/2008 @ 3:24pm

66. I like to look to a more recent example that failed. George Allen's campaign against Sen. Jim Webb. I understand that Mr. Webb is not African American, but Allen's campaign was so blatant in its contempt for anyone different that voters chose based on the better angels of their nature.

    Posted by nazardesign at 04/28/2008 @ 4:00pm

67. Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 04/28/2008

    "Reminds me of the Dems question "whose going to pay for it" when opposing tax cuts, as if thats the same as starting a social program and asking the same thing, which Repubs finally, mercifully began to ask in the 80's. No originality, those libs."

    I believe the premise of the left when making these points is that everything the taxpayers make belongs to the government, and anything the government lets you keep is essentially an expense.

    Posted by pontificus at 04/28/2008 @ 5:08pm

68. Posted by marybretbrad at 04/28/2008

    Yep. When Wright says the whites in the US government invented AIDS and push drugs in order to kill black people, that's just a legitimate opinion. Bring it up as an issue, and you're a racist. Interesting mode of thought, but entirely consistent with the leftist world view which treats any dissenting view as necessarily a racist lie. Orwell would be so proud.

    Posted by pontificus at 04/28/2008 @ 5:23pm

69. Posted by ACook at 04/28/2008 |

    Mea culpa regards gender

    DoE policies have been effective in other countries, at least more so than in the US. However, they have not gone privatized. Your evidence points more to political incompetence, and in the case of the Repubs, outright sabotage, than any proof that private education delivers better results.

    Posted by johnny canuck at 04/28/2008 @ 9:52pm

70. "Yep. When Wright says the whites in the US government invented AIDS and push drugs in order to kill black people, that's just a legitimate opinion."

    I don't recall him singling out whites in the Us government, just the Us government in general.

    And the AIDS thing is a pretty commonly held hypothesis.

    Even HAgee thinks the US government is trying to practice genocide on blacks.

    So I would call it incorrect, but not racist.

    Posted by johnny canuck at 04/28/2008 @ 10:02pm

71. As hard as Mr. Obama tries to hang on it, race is no longer a problem in America. Mr. Obama needs not to be insinuating all the time, but be straightforwaed like his pastor.

    -------------

    Obama's ex-pastor speaks out about church, The Rev. Jeremiah Wright seeks to explain theology of black church

    Wright says criticisms come from those who have not heard his whole sermons

    NEW: Obama: "Folks in my past like Rev. Wright" may cause some voters concern

    Next Article in Politics »

    Read VIDEO EXPLAINER

    (CNN) -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Monday said the black church, not him, had been subjected to attacks in the 2008 presidential campaign.

    The Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Monday said the black church in some ways is "invisible to the dominant culture."

    Speaking before the National Press Club, Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor sought to give insight into the black church and clarify some of his remarks that have sparked a firestorm.

    Earlier this year, some of Wright's sermons, circulated and widely discussed on the Internet and on television, became an issue in the Democratic presidential race because of the former pastor's ties to Obama.

    Posted by HelenDAO at 04/28/2008 @ 10:40pm

72. RE: Race ... Jeremiah Wright is totally right on his account of the black church in the US. But you won't get it why Mr. Obama wants to shut his mentor down for the truth he's been speaking out. Inconvenient truth is still a truth. Ah, Obama, morale is more important than politics.

    Posted by HelenDAO at 04/29/2008 @ 12:34am

73. The NY Times is "suspect" to A. Cook. So what does A. Cook read that isn't suspect? He obviously reads the Nation, or he wouldn't be here. His message is simple: this nation was blessed by God and would be in great shape if it wasn't for liberals and troublemakers who attack everything that keeps America safe and strong, and who are really the true racists, while guys like him are level-headed, honest-hearted heroes who will save this country despite weakling socialists like us. That's why he ends his post with "y'all" to establish his folksey, salt-of-the-earth bonafides. That is why upon reading this folks like him will only cite it as more proof liberals hate America and white people and democracy and freedom.

    Posted by realgonecat at 04/29/2008 @ 05:00am

74. Marybretbrad: "Perhaps part of the reason the media doesn't charge "racism" everywhere John Nichols sees it is because they care about their credibility and don't want to make a bunch of spurious charges that they can't back up."

    Remember that the next time you make spurious charges about the Liberal controlled media you can't back up. Yeah, when Nichols criticizes media the media becomes a pillar of sensibility and restraint, because this suits your purposes, but when the Right is criticized by the media, like Nichols just did, for example, than it is blatant Liberal bias. This is in keeping with the mentality of the commerical in North Carolina, where it is a Liberal lie that white people are racists, and even if it wasn't, minorities are even more racist than white people, so what does it matter? The mentality is this: racism is a liberal conspiracy theory, and even if it ain't, tough, because white folks are large and in charge and God loves them best so sit on your thumb, minorties and liberals, and spin for awhile.

    Posted by realgonecat at 04/29/2008 @ 05:20am

75. marybretbrad

    check.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 04/30/2008 @ 12:51am

76. American bigots are alive & well, so what else is new. The big Q is why does the GOP want so desperately for Obama to lose & Billary to be nominated .... hmm.

    Posted by sloper at 05/01/2008 @ 2:29pm